GM rolling out next-gen pickups
Redesigned Silverado and Sierra will join new mid-sized Colorado
While Ford has ditched its compact Ranger pickup, relying on its turbocharged V6 EcoBoost full-size FSeries trucks to produce improved fuel economy ratings, rival General Motors will offer a mid-sized pickup, the next-generation Colorado, alongside the full-sized Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra.
In an Automotive News report, GM North America president Mark Reuss didn’t say GM won’t offer a turbo V6 as part of the engine lineup on its next-generation pickups, due within the next 12 months. Instead, GM’s strategy hinges on offering “quite a bit” better fuel economy on the next Colorado.
Expect GM’s next-generation small-block V8 engine with direct injection and an eight-speed transmission to improve efficiency.
And regardless what engines will be under their hoods, the redesigned Silverado and Sierra will be lighter than the current generation.
A turbo V6 in a GM full-size truck isn’t out of the question though. Rumours have the automaker working on a twin turbocharged V6.
FIAT’S LITTLE ABARTH A BIG HIT
Alittle over one month after it went on sale, the new high-performance 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth city car is a sellout.
Fiat-Chrysler raised 2012 Abarth production to about 3,000 units, but sources said that is all the automaker’s Mexican plant could build.
Chrysler Canada spokesperson Daniel Labre told Wheels, “Although most of our product orders, including Fiat Abarth are complete for the 2012 model year, vehicles are still available for retail customers.”
The plan is to increase Abarth production for 2013, for which new orders can now be placed.
CANADIAN DRIVERS BURNING LESS GAS
Canadians’ total gasoline consumption declined last year from recordsetting 2010 levels, according to a report from Canadian industry analysts at DesRosiers & Associates. From an all-time high of 38,810,787 cubic metres of gasoline sold in 2010, sales dropped 1.6 per cent to 38,208,34 last year — the most significant usage drop in recent times, coming after an above average 2009-2010 gain of 2.7 per cent. While rising fuel efficiency in new cars and trucks will reduce gasoline consumption, DesRosiers says new vehicles represent only a small portion of the overall Canadian vehicle market (7.2 per cent in 2011). In the short term, don’t expect this new-found efficiency to impact gasoline usage dramatically.
NEW CHARGING STATION AT EXHIBITION
Exhibition Place recently received its first electric vehicle charging station, with one installed in the parking garage of the Direct Energy Centre. Anyone attending an event at the centre can now go to the east entrance of the indoor lot to charge their electric car. The station can recharge cars up to 80 per cent in four hours. “We are pleased with the addition of this environmentally friendly initiative to our grounds,” Exhibition Place CEO Dianne Young said in a press release.
DIGITAL BOOKMOBILE TOURS ONTARIO
The Digital Bookmobile may be coming to your town. The online library on wheels will be making a few stops in Ontario between June 23-30 as it tours North America to promote libraries and digital lending, stopping in Kitchener’s Victoria Park for the K-W Multicultural Festival, going June 23-24. The Digital Bookmo- bile then heads to Hamilton on the 25th and 26th (location to be determined), the Market Centre Theatre in Woodstock, Ont., on the 28th and the Central Library in Pickering, Ont., on the 30th.
Go to digitalbookmobile.com for more details.